Victorian Nationals leader Danny O’Brien and Opposition leader Jess Wilson in Echuca on Monday, July 6.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
Victorian Nationals leader Danny O’Brien has revealed the Coalition is willing to “work with whoever” to defeat the Labor Government in response to a question about One Nation allegiance ahead of the 2026 state election.
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Opposition leader Jess Wilson and Mr O’Brien visited Echuca on Monday, July 6, meeting with business networks to discuss concerns and answer questions about the Coalition’s election campaign.
It was the 16th day of the Coalition’s election campaign Fresh Start Tour, a 36-day journey across every Victorian electoral district.
The visit to Echuca included a roundtable meeting with the Committee for Echuca Moama before the leaders answered questions at a stand-up hosted by CHG Business Network at Echuca Hotel.
The roundtable meeting hosted by C4EM and was attended by industry representatives and Campaspe Shire Council.
Coalition leaders met with community members in a roundtable meeting hosted by C4EM.
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Supplied
Discussed topics included roads and freight, workforce development, housing, water security, business growth and strong community development.
C4EM chief executive Jayden Howe said the meeting was a way for the Coalition leaders to listen to regional concerns from local residents.
He said he looked forward to continuing advocacy for businesses and making sure “voices are heard.”
At Echuca Hotel, the pair were asked pointed questions about what a Coalition government would look like if elected come November.
Questions sent in by members of the network covered topics such as youth crime and bail laws, prison systems, tax reforms and state road repairs.
Breakdown of answers to questions
Ms Wilson said a Coalition government would:
– Recruit 3000 more police officers within four years to fill vacancies and reopen closed or reduced-hours police stations across the state.
– Elevate more youth crime offences from children’s to county court, where offenders would face adult sentences.
– Establish an independent royal commission into the misuse of funds of the Big Build within days of being in office.
– Propose tax relief, including payroll tax and land tax, and would remove the “emergency services tax” and return to the fire services levy.
Mr O’Brien said a Coalition government would establish Construction Enforcement Victoria to “root out corruption” on worksites. He also said he was “working on” a policy to address road repairs across the state.
A large portion of the discussion, with community members and in the official question-answer portion, was about the rise of One Nation, and if the Coalition was open to working with the party come November.
When Ms Wilson replied to the question and said the Coalition would not negotiate this far out from the election with “no leader, no policies, and no candidates on the ground”, community member Tim Dale pushed back in a follow-up question.
Community member and business owner Tim Dale pushes back on Jess Wilson’s comments about not negotiating with One Nation.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
Mr Dale asked point-blank if the Coalition would swap preferences with One Nation on their how-to-vote cards.
He also asked whether the Coalition would present a united front to the governor to form a minority government with One Nation if November's election resulted in a hung parliament.
Mr O’Brien, in response, said the Coalition wanted to become a majority government, and to that end it was pushing Nationals candidate Brett Hosking to win the seat of Murray Plains.
“And look, hypotheticals — we’ll deal with them when we come to it … but we definitely want to get rid of the Labor government, and we’ll work with whoever we have to to make sure that we do that,” he said.
Ms Wilson pointed to the recent Nepean by-election — where the Liberals successfully held the seat despite a massive 24.5 per cent primary vote surge from One Nation — as a “test run” for the Coalition’s localised campaign strategy.
“We were down there on the ground, we ran a really focused, localised campaign talking about the issues that actually matter to the people of Nepean ... and we saw a very successful result,” she said.
“I’m not going to be defeatist, I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy, but I’m not going to take anything for granted because I’m running to form a majority government to fix this state and make it the place that we all love again.”
